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A previous blog post has detailed the carbon footprints for 49 countries and regions in 2015, 2030, and 2050 and how the EU 1.5° Lifestyles modelling team developed these footprint scenarios. In this post, we take a closer look at the household carbon footprints of the five case study countries of the EU 1.5° Lifestyles project.[1] The results in this post are based on our sustainable technological development scenario without lifestyle changes…

The EU 1.5° Lifestyles project has explored the significant behaviour changes needed for European citizens to truly adopt 1.5° lifestyles and we have interviewed “pioneers” who have adopted low-carbon lifestyles to tell us about what has helped them and what has been challenging.

In an effort to assess the potential effects of lifestyle changes on economic and welfare systems, a Policy Delphi process was carried out in several European countries. This innovative approach gathered expert opinions through a series of workshops, aiming to evaluate the feasibility and desirability of welfare system policies and business models that align with 1.5-degree lifestyles. In this blog post, we will delve into the methodology, key…

There is more and more talk about carbon budgets in climate policy, but when it comes to business and lifestyles, this is not yet the case. Decisions as individuals and businesses are still made mostly based on resources such as money and time. When we measure environmental impacts, such as carbon footprints, we focus on what has already happened and what we might be able to learn from it. Why not flip the question and start talking from a carbon…

Living a sustainable life is not a walk in the park. It is a complex process for governments, organisations and individuals alike and has many ups and downs. It is sometimes hard to know exactly which of our choices are truly sustainable. Also, we often face difficulties when trying to adopt a sustainable way of life. Some people experience such changes more actively with such changes and we can learn a lot from them:  what motivates their…

During our Citizen Thinking Labs (CTLs) we exposed more than 100 citizens from 5 European countries to a set of low-carbon lifestyle options to evaluate A) whether they were already implementing them, would be willing to implement them in the near future, or would reject the options, and, B) what the reasons for their choices were.

Just this year (in 2023), the EU 1.5° Lifestyles project team will organise close to 20 project events: various thinking labs, Delphi workshops, a European stakeholder workshop, etc., in different countries, involving altogether quite a few people. Therefore, our impact can be big, not just in terms of what we talk about at the events, but also related to how the events are organised and how their delivery and logistics influence our participants…

The window for effective action is small and rapidly closing - we need a renewed and growing sense of urgency, to "keep 1.5° alive".

Countries, companies and other coalitions are setting climate goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to ‘net zero’ or limiting them to a 1.5° compatible level as set by the Paris Agreement. Individuals may wonder about their contributions to these climate goals. Can an average EU resident achieve a 1.5° lifestyle… without making lifestyle changes?

Many people have heard of a carbon footprint. Maybe they have taken one of the many online tools to calculate their own or have seen it calculated for a product they were buying.  Maybe some are sceptical because they have read that oil companies were behind its development to place the responsibility for reducing emissions on individuals. But what is a carbon footprint really, how do we go about calculating it, and how can it be useful in…